


Meet me in the hallway

by Illuminations



Series: Gates - 24th bday gift fics [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, So is Steve, Sort Of, Time Passing, and i can't tag, but Nat is there, post Endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:33:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29847789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illuminations/pseuds/Illuminations
Summary: Or five moments in the lives of Bucky and Steve in their lives as old men in the 21st century.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov/Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson
Series: Gates - 24th bday gift fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2194398
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	Meet me in the hallway

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta-read, absolutely not a native speaker.
> 
> Happy Birthday to one of the most fabulous person I ever met. I hope you will enjoy this first gift for me, with this ship which made us meet and come to love each other and be so close.  
> Steve and Bucky will forever holds that special place in our hearts, I know it will. 
> 
> title from this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvZMygu99uE

> **One:** On museum galleries. 

Steve Rogers is a public figure. A _legend_ for some even. And maybe there is a thing about legends being so pristine that no one would ever consider how inherently human these figures are. At least, as much as a human being as always a one hundred something years old man was. 

Not that Bucky was counting. 

No, counting was for assholes like Sam Wilson and he was happy to live that to him, thank you very much. 

Yet, there were things that were inherent to this status of national figure. Like having a damn museum for yourself. A museum full of inaccuracies. 

> “And you never thought about telling them that you weren’t the son of a soldier in the first place ?”
> 
> “They didn’t seem so willing to listen...”
> 
> “Well, I’m surprised you weren’t a punk to them.”

Talkative that he was getting, these days. Something that made Sam smirked from where he was lunged in his seat, sipping on his coffee. 

The tea was always hot when Barnes was asking Steve trivial things. And if Sam wasn’t a sitcom lover, always here for some young love bickering...

> **Two:** On old promises.

The air was thick and cold, wind battering their cheeks. So much so that at this point, Bucky really thought that Steve would start giving up on their exploration for the day. 

“Didn’t you think about looking around for it before ?”

He asked again, pointedly, not really believing that the blond wouldn’t have been wandering there before. 

And yet, right before Bucky could expect a witty reply from his partner, he was stopped by a firm hand taking his vibranium made one, and...Their street, well, what used to be their street was now named “Lexington”. It was now quite the hype residential street, as most of the neighbourhood had become. Their brick building, number ten, was no longer there, replaced by 1980s blocks. 

> “It’s there...”
> 
> “Yes it is... I never wanted to come back without you though... We made a promise to come home together, back then... It would have felt even more like a betrayal...”

Silence. Dry throats and heavy breathing. At least for Bucky. And these blue orbs, once again, bring him back. 

> “We’re home, Steve.”

And if Bucky lets his vibranium hand hold onto Steve’s for a _ **little** _too long, he can’t bring himself to care. 

> **Three:** By the sea. 

Natasha is pretty sure she couldn’t have bear this alone. Coming back to life with Steve cheating on time was one thing. 

But him and Barnes being as oblivious as teenagers in denial was really, really getting on her patience. 

The Russian was pretty sure Bucky was sometimes playing her, even. Maybe it was the way the other former HYDRA was constantly hovering around Steve, ready to save the mess he did while cooking - because really, no one should ever believe Steven Rogers on his abilities to cook - or how he was always greeting him with small attentions. 

And sure, they all thought the beach could be fun for once. A change from the loft they had all been crowded into a little too much in New-York after some big talks the very night over Bucky and Steve's little trip to Brooklyn. Natasha was still unsure as to what had changed that day. She just knew that her friend never took a decision without considering everything when it came to his personal life. 

She had been minding her own business till then. Just looking casually enjoying the feeling of the sun on her skin, the sound of the waves crashing against the sand, and well... Interesting domestic scenes.

> "Steve, did you put on sunscreen ?" 

Same question, for the uptenth time. Natasha knew the answer already. Flickering the page from her book, she kept a perfect pokerface on as she heard the expected answer from the aforementioned man: 

> "My hands are full of paint, Bucky, I can't."

A sigh. Sam. He really was getting tired too, for someone so eager to see them struggle to realise what was " _ **so**_ obvious Romanov, I'm telling you". For now, she was still holding onto her bet. And hopefully would win it. 

But what finally makes Natasha looks up was the gasp which escaped him a few seconds later. And the sound of a tube being opened. And seconds later, they are both witness to a still half wet Bucky, in ridiculous bright red swimshorts, applying cream over Steve's nose as if it was butter on some bread. 

> "Here you go, Picasso."
> 
> "Thank you..." 

And then Sam is bending towards her, and whispers, just low enough to be sure that the two won't overhear: 

> "Do they know that they can't get sunburns ?" 
> 
> "I saw Barnes putting sunscreen all over himself before we went here. Safe to assume they don't."
> 
> "Super **_idiots_** they are."

> **Four:** Of Virginia Woolf.

There is something about the way he gravitates around them. About the way he had always been so at ease there. And if now, for all his muscles and scars, he looks a little out of place, Steve feels the hitch of memorising that very moment. From the way his fingers linger over the book spines, inspecting the titles engraved there, from the careful steps he takes, as if he had to be cautious around everything, Steve feels like a teenager again, looking out for his best friend into the school library. 

Bucky had never been taken for an intellectual by anyone. If anything, people acclaimed him for his boxing talents, at the time. Or for being a pretty boy, who was polite and definitely charmed girls. And yet, there was this part of him that definitely stayed hidden to the eyes of others, private to Steve and Bucky's sisters. This intuitive part of the man who used to love reading before sleep, and look out for new things to discover at daytime. 

And here, in this little library, he was discovering pleasure once again. 

If anything, the former American icon was more than happy to oblige him. It was only as he noticed a stop in his best friend that he decided to join him, penetrating his bubble, smiling as he noticed the book's title held between the other man's hands.

> "Among all books, this one again, uh ?"
> 
> "Why do I feel judgement in your voice, Rogers ?" 
> 
> "I would **_never_** dare, Barnes."
> 
> came the playful response.

A smile appeared, and the ice blue eyes stared at him for a few seconds. Bucky seemed hesitant, and Steve knew something was still amiss between them. Everything was in what they weren't saying. It had always been.

> **Five:** Where the true fools are.

The thing is, it has been a whole year since people were back from the blip. A **whole** year of incessant flirting. Of Sam and Natasha sharing annoyed looks and sighing at the obvious. Until one night...

"Barnes ? I found these at the archives today. I thought you would like to have them."

Natasha had been looking through that for a while. Rebecca Barnes, Bucky's little sister, was the only one in the family who had a life after the war, and married to a doctor, a man going by the last name of "Proctor". And nothing was impossible for a former spy. She didn't back up when it came to find information. And it was thus not surprising that she came back with a whole photo album that night.

But what really, really surprised the assemble was the pictures they found there. Sure, there were a few pretty mundane pictures - Bucky's parents weddings, each Barnes kids baby portraits - 

> "You looked way better as a baby Barnes, how did you become so ugly ?"
> 
> had exclaimed Sam, getting a growl in answer, of course, as well as a raised vibranium middle finger.

No, what really came as shock was one for Natasha and Sam themselves as Bucky turned another page through the journey of the Barnes' kids towards adulthood. 

Only to find a pretty equivocal picture of Steve and Bucky holding hands in a field, sprayed all over each other. 

"Wait - All this time... You were ?..." 

And sure, that night, Sam discovered a lot about Steve Rogers. And lost a bet, too. 


End file.
